The Last Tycoon (1976)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel)
Harold Pinter (writer)

Release Date:

19 November 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

He has the power to make anyone's dream come true... except his own.

Plot:

F.Scott Fitzgerald's novel is brought to life in this story of a movie producer slowly working himself to death. |

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Widower | Film Premiere | Seal | Screenwriter

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Monroe Stahr
Tony Curtis	...	Rodriguez
Robert Mitchum	...	Pat Brady
Jeanne Moreau	...	Didi
Jack Nicholson	...	Brimmer
Donald Pleasence	...	Boxley
Ray Milland	...	Fleishacker
Dana Andrews	...	Red Ridingwood
Ingrid Boulting	...	Kathleen Moore
Peter Strauss	...	Wylie
Theresa Russell	...	Cecilia Brady
Tige Andrews	...	Popolos
Morgan Farley	...	Marcus
John Carradine	...	Tour guide
Jeff Corey	...	Doctor
Diane Shalet	...	Stahr's secretary
Seymour Cassel	...	Seal trainer
Anjelica Huston	...	Edna (as Angelica Huston)
Bonnie Bartlett	...	Brady's secretary
Sharon Masters	...	Brady's secretary
Eric Christmas	...	Norman
Leslie Curtis	...	Mrs. Rodriguez
Lloyd Kino	...	Butler
Brendan Burns	...	Assistant editor
Carrie Miller	...	Ladly in restaurant
Peggy Feury	...	Hairdresser
Betsy Jones-Moreland	...	Lady writer
Patricia Singer	...	Girl on beach
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pamela Guest	...	Stahr's secretary (as Pamela Seamon)
Don Brodie	...	Extra on Set (uncredited)
Nicholas Cairis	...	Man at front table (uncredited)
Jester Hairston	...	Waiter in Stahr's office (uncredited)
Byron Morrow	...	Studio executive (uncredited)
Montana Smoyer	...	Disgruntled lady on elevator talking to husband (uncredited)
H.M. Wynant	...	Man at daillies (uncredited)

Directed by
Elia Kazan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
F. Scott Fitzgerald		novel
Harold Pinter		writer

Produced by
Sam Spiegel	....	producer

Original Music by
Maurice Jarre

Cinematography by
Victor J. Kemper

Film Editing by
Richard Marks

Production Design by
Gene Callahan

Art Direction by
Jack T. Collis

Set Decoration by
Jerry Wunderlich

Costume Design by
Anna Hill Johnstone
Anthea Sylbert

Makeup Department
Gary Liddiard	....	makeup artist
Jean Burt Reilly	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Lloyd Anderson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gary Daigler	....	second assistant director
Daniel McCauley	....	first assistant director (as Danny McCauley)
Ron Wright	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Larry Jost	....	sound mixer
Barbara Fallick Marks	....	sound editor (as Barbara Marks)
Ronald Poore	....	sound editor
Robert M. Reitano	....	sound editor (as Robert Reitano)
Winston Ryder	....	sound editor
Dick Vorisek	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Henry Millar	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Rose	....	key grip

Music Department
Joseph Glassman	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Joseph Sullivan	....	driver

Other crew
Daniel McCauley	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Academy Pictures Corporation
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1977) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Look Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount (2007) (Sweden) (DVD)
• VPS Film-Entertainment GmbH (19??) (Germany) (VHS)

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Netherlands:6 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG (certificate #24458) | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | UK:15

Company:

Academy Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Sam Spiegel had wanted Jack Nicholson for the part of Monroe Stahr, but Elia Kazan had opted for Robert De Niro.

Quotes:

Monroe: I don't think I have more brains than a writer, I just think that his brains belong to me

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

Misunderstood masterpiece

De Niro was an unexpected surprise as Monroe Starr in this brilliant adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished last novel. He gives a thoughtful, sensitive, and intelligent performance as this character, who was modeled on MGM producer, Irving Thalberg. Fitzgerald wrote about Hollywood from the inside, and from the perspective of someone who was destroying himself by being inside. He could ask for nothing better than to have English playwright Harold Pinter create this stark, human screenplay and then have Elia Kazan realize it.

In addition to De Niro's definitive performance, we get a series of perfect cameos (usually an impossibility) from Tony Curtis, Jeanne Moreau, Robert Mitchum, and others. We also get two screen debuts of merit -- Angelica Huston (in a small, but memorable scene) and an excellent Teresa Russell as Starr's would-be sweetheart. The critics hated the movie, and it did poorly in box offices, but it was truly, like Fitzgerald himself, an American masterpiece.